Breaking News, June 22

Three persons were arrested for allegedly shooting and injuring a man during a theft attempt in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place around 9.45 am on Tuesday at Shanbar Naka area, where the accused shot the victim with a country-made weapon, senior inspector Vilas Chowgule of Pelhar police station said. The accused allegedly tried to steal a bag containing cash to the tune of Rs 50,000 and shot the victim when he resisted their move, he said. The trio fired at him and escaped the scene on motorcycles, the official said. Four police teams were formed and the accused Uvesh alias Javed Shamim Khan, Ravindra Ankush Nigudkar and Saddam Karamhussein Khan, were apprehended within 12 hours of the attack, he said. The police have seized a country-made revolver, three cartridges and a motorcycle used in the crime, the official said, adding that the accused have been arrested under relevant sections of the IPC and Arms Act. 

The Uttar Pradesh government has told the Supreme Court that demolitions of illegal structures were carried out by its Kanpur and Prayagraj municipal bodies as per law and were not related to punishing the accused involved in violent protests following remarks by two BJP leaders on Prophet Mohammed. In an affidavit filed pursuant to pleas filed by a Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, the state government said, “the said demolitions referred to in the interlocutory applications have been carried out by the local development authority, which are statutory autonomous bodies, independent of the state administration, as per law as part of their routine effort against unauthorised/illegal constructions and encroachments, in accordance with the UP Urban Planning and Development Act, 1972”. It said that none of the actual affected parties, if any, have approached this court concerning the lawful demolition action.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a three-day visit to Germany and the United Arab Emirates beginning Sunday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Modi will visit Germany from June 26 to June 27 to attend the G7 summit. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Schloss Elmau, Germany at the invitation of Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, for the G7 Summit under the German Presidency on June 26 and 27," the MEA said in a statement on Wednesday. It said Modi will travel to the UAE from Germany on June 28. "After attending the G7 Summit, the prime minister will be travelling to United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 28 to pay his personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler," the MEA said. 

Amid the massive political upheaval in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray tested Covid-19 positive here on Wednesday afternoon. State Congress President Nana Patole confirmed the developments though there was no comment from the CM Office. The development came hours after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari tested Corona positive this morning. While the Governor has been admitted to a private hospital for treatment, the CM decided to conduct a 'virtual cabinet' meeting this afternoon.

A Special POCSO court has rejected the bail application of accused Rehan, charged with physical exploitation of a mentally-retarded minor girl in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Judge Rajvir Singh observed that though the victim in her statement recorded under section 164 CrPC admitted that the accused had established physical relations with her consent, but since she was below 18 years of age, her consent had no meaning as per provisions of section 375 of Indian Penal Code, therefore, the offence committed by the accused was heinous. Therefore, without making any comment on the merits of the case, the court was of the opinion that there were not sufficient grounds for bail hence the bail application was liable to be rejected.

Continuing with the 'mango-hilsa diplomacy' of the past, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sent 600 kg of mangoes to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. According to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission here, Hasina had sent mangoes to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. Similar gifts are likely to be sent to few other chief ministers of the eastern region, an official of the deputy high commission said. Prime Minister Hasina had sent sent mangoes to Kovind, Modi and the chief ministers of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam last year too. This is the peak season for the luscious fruit in Bangladesh and Hasina sent mangoes of several varieties like Golapkhas and Amrapali from Rajshahi. “The mangoes were sent to Banerjee's residence on Monday. Last year too we had sent mangoes. At times we also send Hilsa fish. This is all part of “mango-hilsa diplomacy," the official said. 

The number of babies born in South Korea fell to a record low in April amid the chronically low birthrate, while that of deaths hit an all-time high due to rapid aging and the Covid-19 pandemic, data showed on Wednesday. A total of 21,124 babies were born in April, down 7 per cent from the previous year, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest for any April since 1981, when the statistics agency started compiling related data. South Korea is struggling with a chronic decline in childbirths as many young people delay or give up on getting married or having babies amid an economic slowdown and high housing prices, coupled with changing social norms about marriages. The country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- hit an all-time low of 0.81 last year, down from 0.84 a year ago. It marked the fourth straight year the rate was below 1 per cent.

Six people accused of cow slaughter were arrested after an encounter here, police said on Wednesday. Police recovered slaughtered cattle, butchering tools, a country-made pistol along with a few live cartridges from their possession, they said. The accused opened fire on the police team but the force managed to overpower and arrest them on Tuesday night after an exchange of fire. The arrested accused have been identified as Akram, Sehzad, Imran, Akhbar, Israr and Arshad, they said. Two other accused are absconding, they said.
"Acting on an intelligence input our team raided a house under Deoband police station limits. Eight people were found to be involved in cow slaughter there. Six of them have been arrested," Superintendent of Police (city) Rajesh Kumar said. 

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The Delhi University has announced it will conduct a second phase of internal examinations for students of undergraduate and postgraduate courses who could not take the paper previously due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons. In a notification issued on Tuesday, the university said the registration for the examination will begin from June 29. The previous round of physical mode examination for all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes took place in May and June. This was the first time in two years that the university resumed the physical mode of examination. However, some students could not attend the examination due to various reasons including COVID-19.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi Wednesday launched an anti-encroachment drive near the ITO graveyard here as authorities arrived with bulldozers and a police escort to remove "illegal structures", an official said. Around 50 illegal structures are to be removed and the drive may continue on Thursday, the official said, adding the action comes on the directions of the High Court. Civic authorities said encroachers were provided "necessary opportunity" to furnish documents their ownership documents before carrying out the action.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is planning to meet the leaders of Russia and Ukraine following the Group of Seven summit in Germany later this month. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Wednesday that Widodo will travel to Kyiv and Moscow after attending the G-7 summit in the Bavarian village of Elmau on June 26-27. “The president's visits shows his concern for the humanitarian issues, trying to contribute to dealing with the food crisis caused by the war and its impact that is felt by all countries, especially developing and low-income countries,” Marsudi said. Widodo in April officially invited Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a summit of leading rich and developing nations, known as the Group of 20, on the resort island of Bali. He said the gathering will be a catalyst for the world recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the war in Ukraine. 

Even as rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with some party MLAs have moved to Guwahati in Assam, Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said he has been holding discussions with Shinde and the talks are "positive". Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Raut said Shinde has not put forth any conditions before the party, and that discussions are also underway with other Sena leaders who are with Shinde. Raut expressed confidence that Shinde and other rebel MLAs will be back into the party fold, and said their “misunderstandings will be addressed”. “It is difficult for him (Shinde) to leave the party and it will be difficult for us (the Sena) to leave him. Our dialogue is on. We spoke for an hour in the morning. Talks are also on with the MLAs who are with Shinde,” Raut said.

Cash-strapped Pakistan has secured a deal with the International Monetary Fund to restore the stalled USD 6 billion assistance package and unlock doors for financing from other international sources, according to a media report on Wednesday. The make or break deal was reached on Tuesday night following the IMF staff mission and the Pakistani team, led by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, agreeing on an understanding on the 2022-23 budget after the authorities committed to generate Rs 43,600 crore more taxes and increase petroleum levy gradually up to Rs 50 per litre, the Dawn newspaper reported. The extended fund facility package of USD 6 billion was agreed in July 2019 for a period of 39 months. So far only half of the promised money has been reimbursed. The revival of the facility will immediately provide access to USD 1 billion, which Pakistan badly needs to buttress its dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

Heavy rains lashed parts of Jammu & Kashmir Wednesday, triggering flashfloods and landslides that blocked the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway with hundreds of vehicles stranded, and prompted authorities to shut schools in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts. A non-fatal incident of house collapse was also reported from Ramban district, while five people trapped in flashfloods in river Ans in Reasi district were rescued by the police, officials said. The Doda district administration has declared high alert in several areas in the mountainous district. "We have been forced to declare high alert in areas close to river Chenab and its tributaries, and also on slopes and slide-prone areas of Ramban and Doda districts," an official said.

Shiv Sena's dissident leader Eknath Shinde on Wednesday asserted that 40 MLAs from Maharashtra have accompanied him to Assam's Guwahati and they are committed to Balasaheb Thackeray's 'Hindutva' ideology. Shinde along with a group of Shiv Sena and independent legislators arrived here early this morning and he initially refused to speak to the media persons waiting outside the airport. He later said 40 MLAs accompanied him but didn't want to make any comment on anybody. The Shiv Sena legislators have rebelled against the party bringing a crisis to the MVA government in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was on Wednesday admitted to a private hospital in south Mumbai after testing Coronavirus positive, an official said. “I have been tested positive for COVID -19. There are only mild symptoms. However I have been admitted to a Hospital as a precautionary measure,” Koshyari tweeted. Koshyari (80), always seen wearing face masks at public events, has been admitted to the Reliance Foundation Hospital, the official said. 

In a shocking incident, a 24-year-old youth was killed by his friend for Rs 50 in Basaveshwaranagar police station limits of Bengaluru. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Dr. Sanjeev M. Patil said on Wednesday that the incident took place on Tuesday night and they have launched a hunt for the accused. The deceased person has been identified as Shivamadu, a resident of Laggere. According to police, the deceased and accused were childhood friends. Though their houses shifted to separate localities, they met near Kurubarahalli Circle, where they used to meet earlier. The victim worked as an auto driver and the accused was a food delivery boy.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 shook parts of Pakistan early Wednesday, the meteorological department said. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the epicentre of the quake was 44km southwest of Khost in Afghanistan at a depth of 50.8km and its exact time was 1:54 am (local time). The tremors were felt in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and other parts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces. No loss of life or property has been reported so far. Pakistan lies in an active seismic zone and is often visited by quakes of various magnitude. This is the second earthquake in a week after a 5.2 magnitude quake shook parts of the country on June 17. A deadly earthquake hit the country in 2005 which killed more than 74,000 people. 

Four persons allegedly attacked a 23-year-old woman working as a commercial sex worker over a monetary dispute here in Maharashtra, police on Wednesday. The incident took place in Bhiwandi town of Thane district on Sunday and based on a complaint filed by the victim, the police registered a case against a couple and two otherpersons on Tuesday, an official from Bhiwandi police station said. The accused allegedly pulled the woman by her hair, dragged her out of her house and beat her up, the victim said in the complaint. The accused also allegedly manhandled another sex worker, who came to rescue her, the official said. Following the victim's complaint, the police registered a case against the four accused under relevant provisions, he said, adding that no arrest was made so far.

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The counting of votes for Haryana's 18 municipal councils and 28 municipal committees began Wednesday morning. Officials said the counting of votes cast in the June 19 polls started at 8 am. Over 70 percent electors had cast their votes in the elections. While the ruling BJP-JJP alliance, the INLD as well as the Aam Aadmi Party fought the polls on party symbols, many Congressmen entered the fray as independents. According to officials, polling was held to the seats of president and members of all wards of 28 municipal committees and 18 municipal councils. 

The autopsy report of seven stray dogs that were found dead in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, has proved inconclusive, adding an element of mystery to the deaths. The dogs were found dead in Mandiaon locality on Monday, leaving animal activists shocked. The veterinary doctors said on Wednesday that they are depending on the blood test report of three other street dogs, who were found unconscious but survived due to timely intervention by the locals. The veterinary doctors initially claimed that the dogs had been poisoned because blood and froth was found oozing from their mouth.

The Centre has accorded a Z+ security cover of CRPF commandos to the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, officials said on Wednesday. The armed squad took over the security of Murmu, 64, early Wednesday morning, a senior officer told PTI. BJP president J P Nadda announced the candidature of Murmu, a party leader from Odisha who served as Jharkhand governor, at a press conference on Monday night following a meeting of the party's parliamentary board, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders.

Maharashtra cabinet meeting scheduled for today at 1:00 pm. 

A chartered flight carrying Shiv Sena MLAs, who have rebelled against the party bringing a crisis to the MVA government in Maharashtra, arrived here early Wednesday. Sources said that the flight from Surat in Gujarat landed at Guwahati's Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi international airport at around 6.30 am. The exact number of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs travelling in the flight is not known immediately but the flight had 89 passengers, including onboard crew, sources said. The Maharashtra MLAs are being taken in special buses to a city hotel with police protection. Assam is currently ruled by a BJP-led government. The move came after Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party and herded some MLAs to BJP-ruled Gujarat.

Two men were killed when the motorcycle on which they were travelling was hit by a sand-laden dumper truck on Tuesday, police said. Syamlal (28) and his friend Rahul (25) were going to their home in Sonwara village, when they were hit by the dumper truck, Additional Superintendent of Police Samar Bahadur Singh said. He added that both of them died on the spot. The driver of the dumper truck fled the spot, police said, adding that the dumper has been seized. The Additional SP said that the bodies of the deceased have been sent for post mortem examination. 

Singapore reported 7,109 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Tuesday, comprising 6,393 local infections and 716 imported ones. A monkeypox infection has also been confirmed, according to media reports. There have been 13,78,090 coronavirus cases and 1,405 deaths in Singapore since the start of the pandemic. Singapore has seen a 23 per cent week-on-week increase in COVID-19 community infections, largely driven by increased spread of newer Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called a meeting with his senior military officials to discuss national defense policies and plans for further arms buildup following a highly provocative run in ballistic missile testing this year that revived tensions with Washington and Seoul. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim presided over a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Military Commission that began Tuesday to review defense work during the first half of 2022 and confirm “crucial and urgent tasks” to expand military capabilities and implement key defense policies. The report did not specify any plans or mention any critical remarks toward the United States or rival South Korea.

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In the wake of recent political developments in Maharashtra, the Congress party on Tuesday (June 21) deputed its senior leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath as All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer in the state.

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday moved its MLAs to hotels to ward off poaching bids after senior party leader Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party and camped in Surat in Gujarat along with some fellow legislators.

The Allahabad High Court has transferred as many as 619 judicial officers, including the Varanasi judge who had directed a survey inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex. These judicial officers are at present posted in different districts of the state. In a notification issued by the Registrar General on June 20 following an order of the high court, all the transferred judicial officers have been asked to hand over charge at their present place of posting on July 4. The transferred judicial officers are 213 civil judges (junior division), 285 additional district and sessions judges and 121 civil judges (senior division).

A Mathura court on Tuesday sentenced a youth to 20 years' prison for raping a five-year-old girl in a rural area here about four years ago, a court official said. The convict was underage when he committed the rape in 2017, he said. The sentence was awarded on the basis of the recommendation made by the Juvenile Justice Board, which said that the accused, a juvenile at the time of the crime, be tried as an adult owing to the gravity of the crime, the official said. The incident took place February 15, 2017, when the convict took the girl playing near her house to a desolate spot and raped her, said Additional District Government Counsel Subhash Chandra Chaturvedi The family found the victim bleeding from private parts and took her to a hospital and lodged a complaint with the police.

Nearly 30 rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena along with their leader Eknath Shinde have left their hotel here and are now being flown to Guwahati in Assam, sources said. Maharashtra rebel minister Eknath Shinde along with nearly 30 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs were staying at a hotel on Dumas road in Surat city of Gujarat upon their arrival here on Monday night. Now, due to some undisclosed reasons, they are being shifted to Guwahati in Assam by air. These MLAs sat in a luxury bus during early hours of Wednesday as they were being taken to the airport, from where they will be shifted to another BJP-ruled state Assam by air, sources said. On Tuesday, Shiv Sena leaders Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak, sent by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, held discussions with the rebels at the hotel.